We're just adding and they'll have to review it to see if it was a motion. I think we should just order. I think we should just table it and make sure that it the audio is um you know, maybe she just needs direction as to how to adjust it. Put it make it verbatim. She'll she'll follow the audio. Yeah, I follow the audio. Okay. Item seven. Um, uh, for for [Laughter] items for item seven, I just want to make sure that I have to excuse myself from uh, voting because I work for uh, univers University of Massachusetts Global. Um just to explain why I will not be voting for that number. Okay. You want to abstain from voting? I will abstain from it. Yes. 22. Um item 22. Um it says a proposal for safe and civil schools for professional development in chance. Um my understanding is that we're not hiring any new teachers.
Thank you. Thank you. Here we go again. Um I'm Brandy Kins Brandy Kinsman from the select board. I'm at six Lucy French way, but I'm here speaking on my own behalf. I'm not here representing the board tonight. Um first of all I just want to thank the historical commission for all the work that they've done on this and acknowledge that it has been um a long process for you. Um I know this started initially with the genesis was that the mill building which um unfortunately with 40B uh circumvents local zoning. Um and the intention of this bylaw is really good. Um my concern really is um just how it would be implemented. Um I I do have some concerns. So we all know that there are unique um buildings in downtown Ashlin that we all love. Um Jim talked about the Federated Church stones. Those buildings should absolutely be preserved.
Hosshi. Hi, Mr. Andrejo. Hi, Mr. Guo. I and I vote I. Next item 11.6 revised board policy of 5405 in parenthesis 5030 uh student wellness first reading. Next item is 11.7 agreement school resource officer city of Cypress. So move. Motion and a second.
So if we're not hiring new teachers, why are we investing the money to pay for new new teachers? So that's my question. Yeah, we have explained that we do have some new teachers that will be entering the district because of credentiing that we cannot move people around that don't hold um specialized credentials. Um one example of that is French. I don't have a person that is um existing in a position currently that has a French credential and so we will have to backfill that in order to make sure kids get their um three years or two years of um a foreign language. So we will be backfilling some positions that have specialized credentials. Special ed is one of those areas as well. So how many people are we looking at? Because when I look at how much that is being built to the district per day, that is that is somebody's paycheck per day.
Um it adds to the character and the uniqueness of Ashland. But there are many parcels that are on this list that would not necessarily be those that we would want to preserve the facades. Um the young lady in front of me had talked about lunkers. That is a an an old building. It is a historical building, but I am not sure that as a community we want to ensure that that building facade never changes. Um and so when we look at how this would be implemented, um a better approach I believe would have been to establish individual building local historic districts and other towns have had a lot of success with this. Um Welssley has five individual um local historic districts. Needm has one in front of the attorney general. Um the city of Somerville has over 200 individual um local historic districts. It is something that could be targeted and would be much more I think applicable to our downtown rather than this blanket approach.
Any discussion? Uh yes. Can we just uh get a quick brief overview again of what the school resource officer does um and how um we use them? Yeah. So Dr. Hernandez uh our director of student services works closely with the different chiefs uh in this case Cyprus uh to work with the SRO that are at our school sites. They're they're intending to build relations with our students. The idea is we want the through the community school approach, right? The law enforcement is seen as a community asset in terms of working with the community. And so the idea is when safe school or safety officers are on the campus, they're really to be working with the students and the staff. Uh they're not there to enforce the rules. That is the site administration and the staff as a whole. But they're there as a p as a optic for safety and also as a way that they work closely with the staff.
You know, 6,000 something per day for them to come in and do a one day uh training. Or if we go for the, you know, the big cheese of the company, we're looking at 8,000 something per day for them to come and train us. So, or train our staff. So, my question is with all the people we have trained already in house uh until we get a good handle on our finances as a district, could those people train the new people that are coming in until we can get a handle on our finances as a district? We can train. We cannot um take their tools and utilize them specifically. we can do some modified and we can hand the book to people. Um we have approximately 20 teachers that will be new to our system this next year. And so if we're going to continue supporting Safe and Civil, that would be Can we open it up to anybody who maybe like 20 Yeah.
We have um we have invested millions of dollars in revitalizing our downtown and we have seen private investment come in to support that. We saw that with um we've had new businesses come in. Crossroads PT, we've had Subzero Ice Cream, and most recently Clover Road. And that has added to the vitality of town. And I'm just concerned that this particular bylaw would um would would would not serve the community in the way that that um the community intends it to. So um so I would my personal view is that um this particular bylaw as it's written should not be passed. Thank you Jim. If if a question is asked you you can certainly answer it. A concern is her opinion. So there's really no response to her opinion. But the question was she said there were other Let's get through. That's not really a question.
They are invited to community events. They go to local football the football games and the different events to again build that that community. Um, yes, there are times where there may be situations that they do have to support um because there may be a crime that was committed. So, they will work with that, but they often have the relationships which helps work through that process a little bit smoother. Um, but their real charge is to build relationships and work closely with the community. It's it's my understanding, yes, that they're building the capacity. So, they really kind of know they know our staff, they know our students as well, and they build the capacity even with families. Correct. That's the intent. I mean, obviously a school like, in this case, Cypress, you know, there's over 200 students. I don't expect them to know all students, but they're they're present on the campus.
Like a refresher or ones that maybe have been absolutely needing a little extra support in that area. Yes. That way we get the most out of it. Yeah. I just I just want to be sure that when we when we invest that kind of funds that we are really very targeted in terms of what we're expecting to get out of it. Uh if you know because I hear the refresher I don't want to hear that people are getting refreshers every year know. So if you have been trained and you are not using it then you shouldn't be going for more refreshers because you're just looking for a ticket out for a few days. uh we should have more results from the people who are really using it. Um and I have no wor worries whatsoever about safe and civil and what it is doing at schools.
We've heard from both. We've heard from the presentation that there aren't. She's saying there are. If we want to get legal counsel involved, we certainly can. But we're not going to go back and forth every time someone says something that might be if you think it's wrong, we're not going to start going back and forth. We'll be here all night. Hi, uh, Lisa Churchill. I live at Cirrus Drive. I'm also the property owner of 20 Front Street and the business owner of Blush Bouquet. My property is one of the many private properties that's going to be included in the historic district, but is designated as non-historic. When I bought Tal six years ago, I knew I wanted to bring something new to Ashland. It was maybe somewhat of a romantic dream to buy a downtown flower and gift shop um like we see in the movies, but we've done it for the last six years.
They're usually at lunch with students. So, the idea is they're working to build relationship with students and the staff. And yes, they do often attend the coffee with the principal. They often can be a part of um different events in the community where they're they're they're a part of the fabric of what's going on within that school. I want to comment that um there was a a really great presentation from our resource officers in um in partnership with the police department at Cyprus uh regarding ebikes and how how quickly those laws are changing and what parents can do and helping us to get a process in place um you know to for the safety of our students. and the presentation was well attended and um I mean we had a lot of great questions and so that was another I think way that we we partner with our resource officers and we did have a a presentation uh with our um our resource officers and um it was a while back uh that really demonstrated um really the partnership and that we kind of we kind of hand select these uh officers who actually go into our schools.
Uh my concern is if if the training is being offered and we are not getting the results the results that we are looking to get then we need to re-evaluate how we are investing that kind of money and what what schools are receiving that kind of services. So that's important to uh to me especially in this time that we're looking at you know finances as a district you know to be clear that uh when we have it um the people who are going they need to understand that you're not going to play around you come back and we want to see results in your classrooms. Okay. So the item is there. Do you want to vote uh you can vote no on it? Uh I I don't know if I should vote no on it because the superintendent has explained that there will be about 22 uh new 20 to 22 uh new teachers um for for specific subject area.
Um and I'd like to think that my business represents the new vision for downtown and all that it can become handinhand with the improvements that the town has been making in downtown. Um, at least once a week a customer will tell me how happy they are that Blush is here in Ashland and they wish there was more of the same. They want to see a thriving downtown with stores, restaurants, events, and more. And it's starting to happen with my business, with my friends at Subzero, our new friends at Clover Road. Um, but the the proposed historic district will slow or stop any further development of that kind. Um, there's nothing I want more than an adorable downtown. This proposed historic district will not create that. It will not encourage us to update our buildings. It will not provide grant money for us to pay for the increased standards they're imposing.
Yeah, I think each of our police chiefs are well aware of the image that the police have in the communities. So, they're very uh selective in uh the SRO's who represent the police and uh I would say that uh many of the SRO's are from the community. uh they grew up in the community and they do have trust with the community and Dr. Hernandez does meet with specifically the the Anaheim team more often. It's our largest but he meets with them periodically to check in and then bring issues that are brought to our attentions to them and likewise if they hear concerns they bring them to us so we can work together to make things better. So they're not there in any form or fashion of administering uh punishment. No, no. And they also um have different laws governing education versus being on the street.
But I'm I don't know. It's all up to you. I just have one vote. I just so you know, I just my point is to bring it up and say we're spending this 6,000 something per day um to come and do a training that people may or may not use. So that's important for me. Okay. And if if I could just agree with um Trustee Akara that it seems like a significant amount of money um to train um $6,000 is based $8,000 for someone who's renown um plus any sort of um is it going to cost any sort of travel? Do we cover travel? And this one doesn't have Okay. Virtual This is going to be virtual. Okay. Well, we'll do as a roll call vote on this item. I'm gonna Let's Let's move on. So, we have Which one was this? That was 22.
It will not promote growth or new business. It will simply tie us up in paperwork restrictions and increase costs while freezing our downtown in time. There are currently no storefronts or buildings available for rent or purchase. So, where can new businesses go without some level of development required? Um and the 60 plus day process of paperwork, public hearings, and imposed restrictions, which is in addition to existing town processes will discourage any new developers or business owners. Now, during this, I've been repeatedly assured that as a non-historic property, none of the restrictions apply to my building, but that seems to be currently. There's no guarantee that it would continue to be the case. So, why are we burdening the property owners and the businesses with additional red tape? To be clear, I understand the desire to protect meaningful and significant historic properties, but not at the expense of the property owners and definitely not at the expense of non-historic properties that are being swept up in the current district.
Yeah. There's ED code, which is what we follow, and then there's penal code, which is what they follow. And then when we're on campus, we're obviously following ED code. But if a crime is committed, if a weapon's on campus or something of nature, then they would assist with that. Yeah. Yeah. And my experience has been when I've been on campuses and you see an SRO and the students are out of class, they're like a magnet. the students are around this the SRO and the same thing happens when after school when the students are in in a strip mall and the SRO is there uh which they quite often are is not on the campus but off the campus afterwards and observing the students again they're like a mag they're around there they want to talk to the SRO so they're building a relationship a good one and u um that is permeated throughout the community in that respect so thank So, we have a motion, a second.
22. So, 20 26. Did you pull that out? Rene did. I did. Okay. Go ahead. Your your concerns or what information do you need from 26? Yes. So I am um just reiterating what um Auda President Karen Sabers uh pointed out earlier. Um the reduction in cost of switching to um this new insurance is uh $1,480,979. Um, when I think about that, I think about it um affecting our teachers in a way that they were receiving more money and now they're receiving less money in compensation. Um, so my question is why are we asking our certificated staff to take a cut in benefits and salary if we're spending $1,480,979 less than we were this year in insurance costs? I'm going to ask Mr. Schillingberg to answer that. And I I'm going to just state that um we can table this um but I also would like to remind the board that if we have questions prior to the board meeting that I'm going to put staff on the spot to answer, it would be super helpful to have that ahead of time so that they can um prepare and and have some understanding.
I'd also like to note that no property owners or business owners were consulted during the entire process that the historical commission has gone through. We received letters in the mail, but there was no discussion that ever took place. Um, I was told recently by the commission that it was simply an oversight on their part, but it feels like a huge oversight. Um, the commission is claiming that they want to help us, but how can they help us without a true understanding of what downtown looks like from the inside? So, I think you know where I stand. I oppose this district. Thank you for your time. Thank you. U, Marcia Renie, 41 Bay Colony Drive. Um, I was born in this town and I'm lived here most of my life. Um, and what I want to use, what I want to stress to this group tonight is that we are a community.